Howling at the Stars
by Smex Lemur
Summary: Chapter two: “Fool, I know what tattoos are. Niisama hates them,” she said. A few lies here, a few lies there, and he made himself the babysitter of Kuchiki Rukia. Alas, he also needs to face her cold brother. [AU][ByakuyaRenji]
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I think I'm going through a Bleach fase at the moment… Bah, not really that bad. RENJI ALL THE WAY BABY. He's so awesome, me wants him T.T. But unfortunately, he's Byakuya's so I can't do a thing about it. The title is from something Renji says in the manga (and possibly anime?) about that he's always howling at the stars but that he doesn't have the guts to jump and grab them. **

**Title**: Howling at the Stars  
**Rating: **M.  
**Summary**: Renji doesn't take 'no' for an answer and it was no exception when he applied for the job as a babysitter.  
**Pairing(s)**: RenjixByakuya, for now. Based on requests, I might just put in other pairings. Just don't make me put IchigoxInoue in, please T.T Not that I hate her or anything, 'just don't like her. Meh.

* * *

_**Prologue**_

Kuchiki Byakuya wasn't a man people would often befriend. He was a man people avoided, and he in turn avoided people, which was fine according to him. He had no need for people, he didn't want to let them in and he did his utmost best not to get attached to others; they were nothing but a nuisance to him.

Kuchiki Byakuya was a hardworking man. His family was a noble family, rich and powerful, and he had his own company to run. It wasn't often that he got to spend a lot of time at home; he left at eight a.m. and returned at seven p.m., often locking himself up in his private office to do some more work at home.

There wasn't much else to tell you about Kuchiki Byakuya, for that was all that was happening in his life. At least, at the present; if you would look into the past, you could say he did not have that much of an easy life. As I mentioned before, Byakuya didn't let people in so easily; he was cold-hearted and felt he had no need for others. The only person who had been able to even slightly touch his heart, only with the tips of her fingers, was a beautiful girl named Hisana.

He had found her on the streets of the city, clad in nothing but a pair of messy jeans, a torn-up sweater and a scarf. She looked filthy at the time and looked as if she was about to die from hunger, exhaustion, or perhaps even the cold that night. Byakuya took her in as a servant, proving to others that he wasn't as cold-hearted as he seemed and rescuing her from the hell she had been living in and slowly fell in love with her. They eventually married, and Byakuya couldn't remember the last time he had been so happy, though he rarely showed it to her or others. He was content with her, felt at peace, something no one else had been able to grant him in all the years he had been living.

But then, she changed. She began to get sick frequently, saying that it was alright and that she was going to be fine, even though she knew she wasn't. Byakuya had known it as well, deep in his heart, but he didn't want to acknowledge it and instead always said to himself that it was nothing but a small cold, a little fever, some headache. It wasn't bad, nothing life-threatening—that was what he told himself.

Five years after their marriage, Hisana died from illness, leaving Byakuya to face the world alone once more. He was heartbroken, needless to say, and he was reminded why his distaste for other humans was so big. To his dismay, his late wife had made one request however, something he would grant her for all the wonderful years she had given to him—she told him she had left a baby sister on doorstep of an orphanage. She couldn't take care of the child when she was homeless and was too old for the orphanage herself; she left her sister and now asked of Byakuya to take care of her, like he was her own sister.

It only took him one week to find her and took her in; she couldn't be happier to finally have a big brother to look after her.

Byakuya on the other hand couldn't care less; the girl was only seven years old and he hardly had any time to worry about her when he had so much work to do. She couldn't take care of herself yet, which was obvious, so it was necessary for him to hire a babysitter.

But when he hired him, he really didn't think that he would be able wrap his entire hand around his heart.

* * *

_**Chapter 1: The one where he was hired**_

"_In need of a babysitter for a seven-year old girl. Needs to have experience. Work hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and perhaps longer. Needs to be flexible." _Abarai Renji read out loud, sighing as he folded the newspaper. Ah well, he needed the work—if he didn't come up with money soon, he would get thrown out of his apartment for sure. _Beggars can't be choosers, _he thought as he tucked the newspaper under his arm and walked off to the address that went with the job-advertisement.

"Che, I hope Ichigo's right about this," he muttered to himself. The street he was headed to was in one of the fancy areas of town, where the rich and/or famous lived; not his kind of place, in other words. It was only because of his friend Ichigo that he was going to apply for the damn job, since he had never thought of himself as a babysitter. He wasn't that good with kids and he didn't like them all that much either, which was probably a downside. _Though it didn't say it was a requirement, _he mused, grinning slightly. Then again, he didn't have any experience with children either, but he could just lie about that. Not like they were ever going to find out anyway.

He lazily put his hands in his pockets as he walked on, wondering if it was too late to take a bus. According to the directions an old lady had given him earlier, he should be there in another five minutes, so it was pointless now. He hated walking, but he needed to save his money for something more useful.

Like… booze. And food. Though he hardly had enough to buy either. It was only lucky that he was able to leech off of Ichigo occasionally, or else he would have starved by now. It did hurt his pride though; his orange-haired friend hardly ever had the courtesy of just saying 'Sure, it's okay if you have dinner here'. No, instead it was always 'Heh, out of money again? Good thing you have me Renji, or else you would've died three times already'. Damn bastard.

"Is… this it?" he commented out loud as he stopped in front of the most enormous houses he had ever seen in his life. Was it really just one kid he had to baby-sit or were there hundreds in there? In any case… he couldn't wait to try out the pool, if they had one. Then again, most rich people had pools, didn't they?

He shook his head; no need to get ahead of himself. After all, he doubted he would get the job anyway. Who the hell would ever hire a freeloading, tattooed guy to babysit his kids anyway? Ichigo had said that you could never know unless you try, but some things were already obvious to Renji. _But then, why am I doing this again? Oh yeah… damn bastard. _

Ichigo had basically threatened to never give him food again, unless he would go and apply for the job. Why the hell did he have to be such a good friend anyway? Always looking out for him, helping him when he needed it… Che.

Renji swallowed and walked up to the door, gathering his courage as pushed on the button next to the door. He heard a faint ringing inside and was startled when he heard something coming from the intercom.

"Who is it?" a deep voice sounded, not friendly at all. It sounded so cold that Renji's entire being froze, just by hearing it, and for a moment he wondered whether he should just run away or not. But, he could hear Ichigo's words in his head already when he would drop by for a visit and declare that he didn't get the job. 'Ah, so you ran away, huh? Figures. A coward like you… get some backbone man! Go back there and force him to give you the job! Punch him in the face if ya have to!'. As if that would even work. "Press the button to reply, please," the voice said after a while, when Renji still hadn't answered. _I know that, bastard, _the man thought, getting a bit angry now. He pressed the button and replied firmly, keeping his voice from shaking.

"Abarai Renji, I came for the babysitting job," he said and released the button, waiting anxiously for the reply.

"I'll be right there," the cold voice sounded after mere seconds. Renji waited patiently, his heart throbbing in his throat. He wasn't that much of a lazy person, but he had screwed up high-school when he was younger. He was called a delinquent, was a problem child and never really went to class. He had always stated that he could just work, cleaning a couple of days a week or something, and that he could take care of himself. It was the only time he didn't listen to Ichigo, who told him he should stay in school and that he would regret it later on.

Naturally, Ichigo was right; where his fiery and short-tempered friend got all that common sense, Renji didn't know. It pissed him off though.

But he was regretting it. He wasn't so stupid, he realised, as he thought he was and regretted it so much that he never did his homework and didn't stay in school. He wasn't content with working in a store, or being a cleaner for a hotel, or any other job that didn't require him to think too much. He got bored with it easily and ended up getting fired, or quitting himself.

This job… though he disliked children very much, and he wasn't good with them, it was the perfect job for someone who wasn't that motivated with anything. It was easy money, he figured. Maybe he could even go to evening school if he wanted to, or study at home so he could find something better for himself. He very much liked that idea.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, absentmindedly fumbling with the keys of his apartment as he waited for his maybe-employer. He scowled to himself as he thought about how long it was taking; it was cold outside and he was already waiting for five damn minutes there. If he was busy, couldn't he at least let him in and, for all he cared, drop him into a closet or something? It sure was a hell of a lot warmer there.

After another five minutes (Renji was by now fuming, steam practically coming out of his ears) the door opened for him. He turned around and was about to scold whoever it was that had made him wait for so long, but stopped when he looked at the man.

The man was scary, to say the least. That was the first thing that went through his head—the second one was that he looked so sad, it was unbearable. He shook his head, ignoring those thoughts and instead focused on his appearance; the guy was pretty tall, and he had long black hair, pulled back in a tail with only a few strings of hair framing his pale and slim face. He seemed like he hadn't laughed for ages and though his eyes held a certain maturity, the rest of his body and face didn't seem a day older than thirty.

Renji looked straight into his eyes, seeming to be a bit braver than before. This man was cold-hearted, he just knew by taking one look at him; he also didn't seem like the type who would have children, but Renji supposed you couldn't judge a book by its covers. After all, he had been judged for his appearance countless of times and he honestly wasn't going to start himself.

The only thing Renji hated about him so far, was that the man seemed to think of himself far more superior than Renji. The look in his eyes, that was flashing with disrespect and disapproval, was enough to confirm that for Renji.

"Are you going to stare at me all day?" he asked him, making the other snap out of his thoughts. "I suppose it does not matter, since you're not hired anyway," he continued, narrowing his eyes at Renji, who glared fiercely at him. Byakuya wasn't that fazed and instead just stared down at him passively, cursing the younger male inwardly. How dare such a filthy thing even _think _that he was worthy enough of taking care of Hisana's younger sister—it was unbelievable how much nerve he had.

The man on his doorstep didn't seem to back down and instead was clenching his fists, seemingly to try hard to not punch Byakuya straight in the face. _And violent too, _he observed, his dislike for this boy growing more and more as seconds passed. It wasn't just so much the fact that Byakuya knew that he wasn't from a rich family, but also his appearance. The man had tattoos on his forehead, for God's sake and red hair? There was no way in hell Byakuya would even allow this person to be in the same _room _as Hisana's sister.

"You didn't even give me a chance!" the man said, practically yelled. "At least give me an interview or a valid reason for refusing to give me the job without even _talking _to me." Byakuya inwardly smirked a little bit; he was certainly fiery and slightly amusing.

"Shall I give you the valid reasons then?" he asked him, his stoic face never revealing even the slightest bit of emotion. "First of all, your appearance. I will not allow Rukia to be in the same room as a tattooed wonder, like yourself. Secondly, you have already raised your voice to someone you ought to respect. Thirdly, I can smell from over here that you're a smoker—I will not let Rukia be at the mercy of a cancer-stick addict. Fourthly, from the way you have your fists clenched, it seems you have trouble controlling yourself. I would not be comfortable knowing that you could strike Rukia while I am at work—"

"I would never hit a kid!" Renji exclaimed, furiously. How dare this guy insult him, look down at him! Though, he had to admit, he _did _need to learn how to control himself—the fights he had been in school were rather bad, and people got on his nerves quite quickly. But he was not someone who would hit a child either—that went too far, even for him. And the smoking part was also true, but he wasn't an addict. He only smoked a couple of cigarettes a week, and it just so happened that he had smoked one right before he got the nerve to go and apply for the job, to calm his nerves a little. "And, I could stop smoking if that's really a problem," he added, this time at a normal volume, thinking about the second reason.

"I am sorry, but unless you can also get those tattoos off of your face, learn to respect other people who obviously have a higher social status and take anger management, you will not have the job. Goodbye, sir," he said, about to close the door in Renji's face. He was surprised however, when Renji placed his foot in the doorway, holding back the door with it. He raised an eyebrow amusedly; the other appliers hadn't been so persistent as this one.

"I don't see how me having tattoos has got anything to do with it," Renji persisted, getting pissed off. Damn it, now it wasn't a matter of getting the job anymore; now it was a matter of pride. He would get this job, whether that guy liked it or not! "It's not like it's a disease and she could get infected with it! I could tell her they're just really weird eyebrows or something."

"Do you honestly think a Kuchiki would fall for something like that? She is seven, not four and she possesses much intelligence for her age," Byakuya replied, raising both of his eyebrows at him. Seriously, when was he planning on leaving? His attention was taken away from the strange man on his doorstep, when two tiny hands grasped his robe. He looked down, noticing it was his little sister and gently, with as little affection as possible, patted her on her head. She looked at Renji, blinked, and looked back at Byakuya.

"Who's the man with the funny eyebrows?" she asked him.

Renji snickered.

"I'm your new babysitter!" he exclaimed happily, pointing at himself. Byakuya seemed to show the slightest hint of being pissed of right now, however, and pushed the little girl away from the door.

"Rukia, please wait in your room," he said.

"Yes, nii-sama," she replied, eyeing Renji curiously, but obeying nonetheless. Byakuya turned back to Renji, who was by now staring at him triumphantly.

"See? Told you she wouldn't notice. _Now _can I have the job?" The older man sighed, running his hand through his black hair. He wasn't one to give up quite so easily, but this person on his doorstep had been one of the few to apply. One of them was an old lady who smelled like cabbage and who had told him she used to use a stick to straighten her children out and the other one was a middle-aged man who wrote pornography books as a hobby. And it had already been several weeks since he started searching for a suitable baby-sitter—compared to the others, Renji seemed like a godsend.

"You can come in for an interview, but I cannot promise you anything," Byakuya finally said, sighing. "Kuchiki Byakuya," he held out his hand for Renji to take, which he did.

"Abarai Renji, boss!" he said happily, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Byakuya raised an eyebrow as he stepped aside for Renji to come in.

"As I said, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, you can't promise anything. Got'cha." Renji took off his coat and shoes and followed Byakuya to what seemed to be the living room. He sat down on one of the couches when the older man gestured for him to sit down and waited for him to start the interview.

"Do you have any experience when it comes to children?" he questioned. Well, that wasn't such a hard question—Renji had expected that one to be one of the first, so he had prepared himself to tell some lies. It wasn't as if he liked to tell them, but he wasn't really on good terms with Byakuya, so it seemed to be logical in his mind that he should at least impress him a little with fake experience.

"I worked in a day-care for a year or so," he said. "And when I was a teenager I used to babysit kids all the time, plus I grew up in an orphanage so I had to watch the younger kids often too." The last one wasn't completely false; he _had _grown up in an orphanage, just not the fact that he had watched the younger kids. He was usually out, causing trouble to other people, instead of staying at the home and be a good boy.

"Very good," Byakuya said, content with the response. Renji breathed out a sigh of relief, preparing himself for the next question. "Are you willing to stay here later when I cannot be home on time? Is that a problem for you?" Renji shook his head.

"No, I'm pretty flexible when it comes to work hours, I don't have that much to do in my spare time," he replied. Byakuya nodded.

"…Can you cook?" he asked, seeming to be uncomfortable by asking this question; he was embarrassed about it, Renji noted, slightly amused. "Our cook has recently quit his job, so we're out of one. I have no time to look for a new one, I barely even had time to find a babysitter. That was a necessity however and a cook wasn't, though I have to admit I have become quite tired of instant ramen." Renji couldn't help but grin; so this Byakuya wasn't that perfect then? There were some things he couldn't do, such as cook?

"Well, I'm not the world's greatest," Renji started, scratching his head. "But I can make some things. I mean, if ya like spaghetti and all that stuff—I can't really do any complicated things."

"That is fine. As long as it is not ramen, though I must warn you that Rukia has a frightening addiction to the food," Byakuya commented. Renji grinned again, shifting nervously in his seat.

"Does that mean I have the job?" he asked. It was silent for a moment, before the other nodded.

"We will give it a try for a week," he said firmly, standing up. Renji kept himself from jumping up and pumping a fist up in the air, crying 'Victory!' and instead just gave him a short nod, and a small 'thank you'. "You will start tomorrow then, be here at seven-thirty. I will see you tomorrow." Renji nodded again.

"See ya tomorrow, boss!" he grinned, not missing the fact that Byakuya's mouth slightly twitched upwards for a moment, before he was being lead out of the house. "Well, that went well," he commented once the door was being closed behind him and started heading to Ichigo's apartment to get some food.

He stopped midway however as he thought about it—the damn brat was right again. _You never know until you try, huh? _Renji thought, grinning and silently thanking his best friend. _Maybe things are starting to get a bit better now._


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: The way I portray Rukia at the beginning is entirely out of character. Which is my intent; you see, Rukia is smart, takes up the role of an innocent girl (as you can often see in the manga/anime when Rukia is on Earth), etc. so it's only natural to _act_ like a sweet kid in front of her brother. **

**Of course, Renji doesn't know it in the beginning… oh, you poor thing (-cackles evilly-) And thank you, my only reviewer! You shall be loved ; D. And I'll try to squeeze in some of that pairing you asked for. They need more love anyway ; D. **

* * *

_**Chapter 2: The one with the flour **_

"Sooo, I take it you got the job?" Ichigo asked, letting his best friend into his apartment who was grinning from ear to ear.

"You bet your ass I did, man!" he exclaimed, slapping a hand across his mouth once he spoke the sentence. Ichigo raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "It's 'cause I have to watch this kid. I can't go around and say 'ass' when the girl is near me. Gotta watch my language, y'know?" he explained.

"I'm sure that Rukia-kid knows the word 'ass', Renji," Ichigo replied, shrugging. "So, how's the kid? Did you meet her?"

"Yeah, it'll be a breeze," Renji replied, grinning. "She's pretty adorable, and obedient. Then again, aren't girls usually less trouble? Bah, doesn't matter, at least she's a good kid! Calls her brother 'nii-sama' though. Che, seems kinda formal, but whatever." Ichigo nodded as he grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and tossed one to Renji, who took it gratefully. After that tense and awkward meeting with his new boss, he sure could use something to loosen him up a little.

"Anyway, how is Kuchiki Byakuya?" Ichigo asked, flopping onto the couch. He took a sip from his beer, watching amusedly as Renji splattered his all over the floor when he mentioned the name. "Whoops, you didn't know that I know him? I used to work for the guy, stuck-up jerk but so frickin' hot."

"Bastard," Renji growled. "Couldn't you have warned me that he was the world's biggest asshole on the planet?" Ichigo grinned at him, not fazed at all by the menacing tone in Renji's voice.

"Must've slipped my mind," he said innocently. "Besides, you got the job, didn't you? And as usual, I was right. So, how much are you gonna get paid? If it's Byakuya, you'll get a fair amount of cash—he always was pretty generous when it came to that kind of stuff." He watched as Renji was cursing himself and blinked. "You didn't ask him how much it was gonna pay? Man, you're an idiot," he continued, laughing slightly when Renji chucked the already-broken remote control of his TV at him. He easily dodged it, since Renji didn't have the best aim in the world.

"Damn fruity," he muttered, scowling.

"Well, there's another 'damn fruity' coming over for dinner tonight too," his orange-haired friend said.

"Wha—Ishida? He doesn't like me that much," Renji commented. "And he doesn't like you either, what did you do? Blackmail him into coming here or something?"

"Ishida will take anything that's free, you know that. Both of you are a bunch of freeloaders," he muttered afterwards, ignoring the protests coming from Renji. "And we're colleagues, so we need to be able to stand in the same room without killing each other, or else the office will turn into a warzone, don't ya think?"

Renji waved him off. "So? You bunch of secretaries need to have a little excitement in your life anyway," he said.

"Damn it Renji, for the last time, I'm not a—"

"Whatever. What're we havin' for dinner?" Ichigo chucked a spoon at his head, hitting him square in the face. Unlike Renji, Ichigo had a wonderful aim. "Ouch! Damn it, this is the last time I'm honouring you with my presence!"

"Oh please almighty Renji, would you please forgive me for my insolence?" Ichigo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You're forgiven, my loyal subject. I shall grace you with my presence tomorrow night as well!" He grinned when he saw Ichigo's horror-struck face and had to duck for an incoming knife this time.

"No way man, I got a date," Ichigo declared. Renji perked up a bit, closing in on Ichigo.

"Male or female? Name? Age? Hot or not?" he asked immediately—he had always been interested in Ichigo's love life, since the boy practically didn't have one. Sure, there were plenty of people crushing on him, but he always was oblivious when it came to things like that and, as Ichigo had told him once, he didn't fall in love that easily. There were just too many things on his mind and he hardly had time to even think about a relationship. Renji didn't understand—you could just go out and have some fun with a person, why would you immediately want to have a relationship with someone? They were just boring and the tattooed boy couldn't imagine himself committing himself to only one person. There was just too much of his hot body to go around.

"None of your business, not telling, twenty-one, hot," Ichigo said firmly, grinning slightly when Renji's faced drooped a little.

"Ah, come on! At least tell me if it's a he or a she!" he insisted. Ichigo sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Dude, you need to get a life yourself. It's a 'he', okay?" he replied, continuing to prepare dinner. "I _might _just tell you his name… if you cut the onions," Ichigo said, seeing the disappointed look on his friend's face when he noticed Ichigo wasn't going to tell him the name.

"Yes, sir!" he said happily, grabbing the onions.

* * *

The next day Renji headed out to his new job, wearing his normal clothes. A pair of ragged jeans, a simply t-shirt and his headband that he almost always wore. He didn't know whether or not it was enough for Kuchiki Byakuya, but he found that he didn't care too much. Clothes weren't really that important, he figured, so he didn't really care.

Renji didn't think the girl seemed to be too bad; she was only seven and when Byakuya told her to go to her room, she obeyed without question. So Renji didn't expect too much trouble from that girl anyway, and since she would be in school most of the time… well, that was only a good thing.

He arrived at seven-thirty as Byakuya had said and rang the door. It took Byakuya only seconds to answer it this time though and Renji had momentarily forgotten the cold stare the Kuchiki was always giving him. _Is it just me or does he treat others the same? _he thought vaguely, as the Byakuya just took a step aside and let him in, not even saying a 'hello'.

"Good morning to you too, boss," Renji said mockingly, saluting him in the progress. Byakuya scowled at him, taking a sip from the coffee he was holding in his hands.

"You should learn to—"

"Respect you? Yeah, yeah, but you ain't respecting me either, so I won't do it unless you start being a bit nicer to me," Renji said, interrupting him again. "So, where's the kid? What time does she have to be in school?" he asked, looking around for the small girl. Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I tell you? She is being home-schooled," he replied. Renji cocked his head to the side.

"Isn't that kind of lonely? I know this kid who was being home schooled too and man, was he miserable," he commented, giving Byakuya unnecessary information about people he didn't even know. He really wasn't interested.

"It was Rukia's own wish," he just said. "She's not the kind of person that easily makes friends, if you must know. She's rather on her own." Renji shrugged. "Besides that, she's highly intelligent and going to school would only hold her back. This way, she can develop everything more quickly."

"Nii-sama, is Renj—" both of the men looked up when they heard a small voice coming from down the hall and they turned around to see Rukia, who had stopped in the middle of her sentence, standing nervously in front of them. "Oh, he's here. Hello, Abarai-san," she said, giving him a small bow. Renji blinked at her, laughing slightly.

"Don't be so formal kid, just call me Renji," he said, waving her protests away. "Really, I hate it when people call me that—makes me feel old, y'know. I bet you don't like it to be called 'Kuchiki-sama' or something, do you?" Rukia immediately shook her head, smiling a little.

"Right, I take it you know most thing about taking care of a child?" Renji nodded, though he mentally shook his head. "Very good, then I will say what you are allowed to do and what you are allowed to do not. You are forbidden to hit her; if I so much as see a scratch on her by your doing, I will not hesitate to give it back to you one hundred times worse. Understood?" Renji rolled his eyes, but nodded. He wasn't that impressed with the menacing look the Byakuya gave him and he didn't look all that strong either, so he wasn't intimidated. Not that he would ever hurt the kid, but that was besides the point. "Good. You are not allowed to go into my office or my personal room, other than that you can go anywhere you wish, provided that you watch after Rukia, of course. You will also have to make lunch and dinner for me and her and, even though I do not agree with it, Rukia insists that you stay for dinner as well." _Oh, that's nice of her,_ he vaguely thought, though he found it was pretty logical; after all, he _made _the dinner, so he should be able to enjoy it as well. "Other than that, please also make sure there is enough food in the house; if you go out shopping, take Rukia with you, but that's only natural, of course," he said, giving Renji a small smirk.

"Of course," he agreed. Byakuya nodded.

"I've left an envelope with some grocery money for this week, it should be more than enough—there is also another one, the yellow envelope, which has your money for the coming week. If I'm not satisfied with your work, I will let you go and if I am, you will move into my house and take care of Rukia fulltime." Renji nodded absentmindedly, only hearing the words 'your money' and barely registering anything else. It took him a couple of seconds before he realised that Byakuya had added something more.

"_What!_ Move in here?" he demanded. "You never mentioned that before," he then continued to accuse, pointing at the man.

"It will be more convenient for the both of us," Byakuya said, shrugging. "You will be able to live here, for free, and you can take care of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not to mention the fact that there will be many evenings I have to stay late at the office and there will be mornings I have to leave earlier."

Renji took a couple of moments to think about—he certainly was right when it came to the hours he had to work. Byakuya seemed to be a real workaholic, so it was only logical that he would be working as many hours as he needed to, which meant there would be a lot of changes in Renji's hours. If that was the case, was it really worth it going home just to sleep and only go back there a couple of hours later?

Besides that, he could live with Byakuya for free and earn money too, just by babysitting some sweet, little girl that wouldn't hurt a fly.

But, on the downside—he would have to live with Byakuya, who was a cold-hearted man. And sometimes quite scary. He thought about what Ichigo would say in such a case, before he promptly shook that thought out of his head ('Dude, what're you waiting for—that guy is hot, I'd so live with him just to have some mansex with him!'). Really, his best friend was quite useless sometimes.

"I'd like to think about it," Renji replied. Byakuya nodded.

"Good, then I'll be off. Good luck," he said, putting on his coat as he walked out the door.

"Have fun at work, boss!" Renji said mockingly, waving him off. Byakuya turned around, giving him a small glare, though Renji spotted a small bit of emotion in his eyes. It was gone in a flash as his new boss turned around and stepped into his black car. Renji sighed as he closed the door, looking around for his charge. _Now where is that girl? Didn't she go into the kitchen…_ he wondered vaguely, heading into the direction Rukia had gone off to.

"Oi, Rukia? You there? You got breakfast yet?" he asked as he poked his head into the kitchen. He let out a shriek of surprise when he suddenly felt something thud on his head and when he saw flour everywhere. Someone had thrown a bag of flour onto his head. Whoever had done it, was going to die. Painfully. "Who the fu—" he was interrupted when a loud, girlish laughter came from the other side of the kitchen. He glanced into the direction and, through the cloud of flour, he saw Rukia laughing at _him_. She was pointing and laughing, _at him_! "Did you do this?" he growled, hardly believing it himself. This really was that shy little girl he had seen earlier?

_Oh man… _he groaned. If she was like this, he was going to have trouble.

"What if I did?" she asked him, mockingly as she put her hands on her hips and silently challenged him to do something about it. "Come on, funny-brows, you gotta clean up this mess. If nii-sama ever found out you actually dropped the bag of flour… he's going to be so mad," she grinned.

"F—funny-brows?" he asked in disbelief, pointing at the girl. "You're so dead! You're grounded for the rest of your life, you little rat! You clean up this mess right now, damn it, there's no way in hell I'm gonna do it!" Rukia just wiggled her index finger at him, shaking her head.

"Who do you think nii-sama will believe? Me, the cute little girl, or you? I think it's obvious he'd pick me," she said. Renji just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. This kid… she was actually _seven_? She was saying things he had never heard any seven year old say. Damn, so this is what Byakuya meant with the fact she had unusual intelligence? It was true, she was smart… but if she thought she could go against Renji, well, she was terribly mistaken. "Besides, you can't hurt me, I heard nii-sama tell you that! And you don't want to hurt the sister of one of the richest men in all of Japan, would you?" she questioned daringly, again mocking him.

"I'll get you," he growled, and leaped forward, lunging at her. She let out a shriek as he was able to grab her by the waist and lifted her up, throwing her over his shoulder. "If you honestly think I'm gonna let you walk all over me, just 'cause your rich and just 'cause your 'nii-sama' said I couldn't harm you, then you're really mistaken, kid. I ain't letting nobody walk all over me, got that? But I'm not one to treat others unfairly either, so let's make a deal; you clean up that mess and I'll make breakfast for ya, how's that?"

There was a moment of silence as Rukia took her time to think about the situation. There wasn't much she could do… and she really was craving pancakes, which she couldn't make. "Can you… make pancakes?" she asked him, her resolve fading slightly. He grinned, getting her away from his shoulder and held her high up in the air.

"I can, how much do ya want? Ten? Twenty? You need to get some fat, you hardly weigh anything!" Rukia huffed, crossing her arms.

"I want five, with syrup," she said, pouting slightly. Renji raised an eyebrow at her, staring. "Please?" she questioned, cocking her head.

"So you _do _have some manners, I'm surprised!" A little miniature glare was shot his way. "Now go clean that up, so I can get to work. When's your teacher going to be here?"

"Hanatarou-sensei should be here in half an hour," she said. Renji blinked. _Hanatarou? I know him… vaguely, I think. _"He's a real wimp," she stated, making Renji chuckle. "But he's nice too, so I guess that's alright. How come you have those weird eyebrows?" she asked.

"They're not eyebrows, but tattoos," Renji said absentmindedly as he searched the cabinets for the ingredients for the pancakes. He had completely forgotten about the fact that Byakuya didn't want her to know they were tattoos and quickly tried to talk himself out of it. "I—I mean, they're eyebrows. Very weird eyebrows," he added, grinning nervously at Rukia, who raised an eyebrow.

"Fool, I know what tattoos are. Nii-sama hates them," she said. "Anyway, it's not like I want them or something, they hurt," she continued, shrugging her shoulders as she sat down at the table. Renji was surprised the whole kitchen had been cleaned up so quickly by her. Well, not that this kid hadn't surprised him earlier—her whole change of attitude was surprising, as well as the fact that she talked and acted as a boy. She didn't seem to be like Byakuya at all either; she gave off more of a warm feeling, even though she seemed to be tough.

Definitely not like Byakuya.

After ten minutes, Renji was completely finished with her five pancakes, and two for himself (even though he had already had breakfast; the guy had a big stomach) and sat down at the table with her.

"How old are you?" Rukia asked. Renji raised an eyebrow, as he took a bite from his pancake.

"Twenty-one, why do you wanna know?" he retorted.

" 'Cause you're going to be my babysitter, right? I'll have to know some things about you. Married? Single? Divorced?" she continued asking. Renji spluttered.

"That's none of your business! What's that got to do with being your babysitter? I can see why you wanna know my age, but—"

"If you're going to live here, wouldn't it be a bit difficult for you if you are in a relationship? Fool," she added, raising an eyebrow at the now fuming Renji.

"Damn it, you're a real smartass, aren't ya?" She happily smiled at him and nodded. "But, as I said, I like making deals. So let's make one now, 'kay?" Rukia cocked her head, blinking.

"What kind of a deal?"

"For each question you ask me, I get to ask you one. And it can be about anything, so if I want to ask something about your brother, ya have to answer me and vice versa," Renji replied.

"You think I'm going to ask you something about my brother?" she asked, humour evident in her voice. Renji growled.

"Man, you're a difficult kid. Is it a deal?"

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Renji stroked his fake beard as he thought about it.

"Okay. Have you always been living with your brother?"

"Maybe. My turn! Are you single?" Renji blinked.

"Wait, that's hardly an answer!"

"Well, you never said how I was supposed to answer!" Rukia retorted stubbornly and pouted. Renji gave her a threatening glare however and she held up her hands. "Fine, fine. No, I've started living with him for a month now, I think. So, are you single?"

"Yes," Renji replied. "Been single for a long time now. "Where were you living before you came here?"

"At an orphanage!" the girl replied. The other raised an eyebrow, but before he got to press on, Rukia asked him the next question. "Do you like boys or girls?" Renji practically spit out the piece of pancake he had in his mouth.

"_Excuse me?_" he exclaimed. "You're seven! Act like one!" Rukia shrugged.

"There was this boy at the orphanage who liked boys. What's the big deal?" she asked innocently.

"I—I don't know if your brother's going to be happy hearing this," he muttered darkly, thinking about all the ways Byakuya was going to use for killing him.

"I promise I won't tell," she offered. Renji's narrowed his eyes at her, seeming to not believe her. "What? Just because I threw a bag of flour on your head, you don't trust me?"

"I don't trust evil things," he said darkly, even narrowing his eyes further. "But I guess, since you're so far ahead with these kind of things, I can tell ya. I like both."

"You like both?" Rukia repeated.

"Yeah, just don't tell your brother, got it? I'll be fired for sure and you'll get some old chick who smells and wears diapers for a babysitter. You wouldn't want that, would ya?" he threatened, grinning slightly at the way Rukia gulped.

"I won't tell," she repeated. "Your turn to ask a question."

"Right, right," Renji muttered, tapping his chin. "Ah! Why were you in the orphanage in the first place?" Rukia shrugged.

"I dunno, they told me someone had left me there and nobody came to pick me up again. Except for nii-sama, but he's not really my nii-sama. He says he was interested me because I look exactly like his wife who died a couple of months ago," she replied, shrugging. Renji blinked. Lost his wife? Well, that would certainly explain why he was so cold towards others, but it wouldn't explain the fact that he took in Rukia. If it had been Renji, he would have stayed away from people who looked like a loved one; they would only bring up memories, right? "Oh! Hanatorou-sensei's here!" Rukia exclaimed when the doorbell rang, seemingly happy about her sensei's arrival. She quickly jumped off her chair and ran to the door, opening it.

Renji tagged along and gasped when he saw the small and thin body of the teacher, black hair and the nervous eyes. "H-Hanatorou!" he said, waving at the man who was busy greeting his student. He looked up and blinked, before smiling nervously.

"Abarai-kun!" he replied. "It's been so long!"

"Yeah."

"You two know each other?" Rukia asked curiously.

"Sure do, we were in the same class together a couple of years ago," Renji replied. "Though, I can't say we got to see each other that much—I usually was always out getting myself or others into trouble," he grinned guiltily, rubbing the back of his head.

"Really? You seem like a troublemaker," Rukia agreed, crossing her arms and nodding her head. Renji huffed in annoyance.

"Che, what's that supposed to mean? Takes one to know one!" he retorted, sticking out his tongue at her.

"Peh, funny-brows!"

"Baldy."

"I'm not bald!"

"Your face is!"

"So? Your face is bald too!"

"No, it isn't."

"Yah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Eh… Abarai-kun, Rukia-san, please—" Hanatorou began nervously, holding up his hand and smiling lightly at the fighting pair. They both stopped their argument and huffed.

"Well, I'm gonna clean up the kitchen," Renji said, sticking his nose up in the air as he headed back to the kitchen. Rukia sniffed too and headed to the 'classroom'.

"And I'm gonna study! Come on, Hanatorou-sensei," she tugged his hand and guided him through the house, all the while not noticing the small smile her teacher had on his face.

This was probably the first time in weeks that she had opened up a little.


End file.
